Warlords of Draenor - Upcoming Artcraft Post: Garrisons
It looks like the next Artcraft won't be featuring another character model, but Garrison models!

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

The level of detail we're approaching with Warlords of Draenor means that these are going to be some-of-if-not-the-best looking sets, props and buildings ever seen in the World of Warcraft. Creating just one set of buildings for each faction (as well as their individual upgrades) is a huge amount of work, and they rely on most of the same artistic resources as the expansion's dungeons, raids, quest hubs, and cities. Creating any additional buildings would quite literally translate to less content for those other parts of the game. We are incorporating some elements of other races into the individual Garrison buildings, but the themes are largely of Durotar and Elwynn. We'll be offering a sneak peek at the Garrison buildings in the next Artcraft, which is currently slated to be posted next Tuesday--written by the art team and formatted by moi--so be sure to keep an eye on the front page next week.

Not at release but do you think eventually we might be able to buy racial specific themes later sometime? Or is this design set in stone? I loved the way Lotro did their housing, each race got their own theme for housing.
Certainly there will be updates and changes as the expansion progresses, but I don't believe there's any current intention to add full sets of additional buildings. If we were to work on those for an expansion patch it would quite literally come at the cost of a raid tier. That is where that work would come from. We have to make decisions on how to spend our time.

I think if the Garrison becomes a long-term persistent feature there's certainly a possibility for larger additions, but we're focusing on it being a feature for Warlords of Draenor as your fortress against the Iron Horde. I think we'll have to see how it goes.

Heart of the Wild now provides the following benefits from PvP Power when activated.

Restoration Druids now receive 50% of their PvP Power applied towards damage while the ability is active (down from 100%).

Feral and Balance Druids now receive 100% of their PvP Power applied towards healing while the ability is active (down from 120%).

US Connected Realms - Update 2/7

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

As previously announced, we’ve been working toward connecting realms to increase the number of players on low-population realms, and since then have completed several connections. As a part of our ongoing communication, we wanted to provide you with an update that contains a list of completed realm connections, currently planned connections, and any additional future plans in one convenient location.

*Please note this list does not encompass all potential future connections. Please check back for further updates.

Future Connections
We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, February 13th during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PST through approximately 1:00 p.m. PST. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

Azjol-Nerub and Khaz Modan

Eldre’Thalas and Korialstrasz

Farstriders and Silverhand

Spinebreaker and Wildhammer

Thunderlord and Azgalor/Azshara/Destromath

We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, February 27th during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PST through approximately 1:00 p.m. PST. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

Alexstrasza and Terokkar

Cenarion Circle and Sisters of Elune

Exodar and Medivh

Frostwolf and Vashj

Gorefiend and Spinebreaker/Wildhammer

Gundrak and Jubei'Thos

Mug'thol and Dragonmaw/Akama

We do not have a date for the following realm connections, but will update this post when we do.

The connection for Feathermoon and Scarlet Crusade has been delayed. We'll provide an update at a later point in time.

*Plans for these connections may change at any time, but we’ll provide additional updates on specific dates for future connections here as we can. Please note that as a part of the connection process realm times may change to match each other.

Blue Posts

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Connected Realm Forums
This is actually something we hope to implement. Would appreciate any feedback you have about it. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Character CustomizationThe game isn't built to support variation of height or weight. It's not likely to happen either as it would effect the way armor is scaled to characters.
That's a good point.

Just for fun, if you could pick your top three character customization options, in order of preference, what would they be? For me:

1. Scars/tattoos/warpaint
2. More facial hair options for males
3. Racial 'variants' for those who have them

These would make a lot of people very happy...
Perhaps. One of the things that's tricky about customization options is that, as fun as they are, so much of a character's visuals are expressed via armor, weapons, and abilities. We spend comparatively little time seeing a character's face up close.

Don't get me wrong. I like them, and I always carefully make each character just so. I personally feel that a personalized character increases my personal connection to it. Still, it's a hard argument to ignore. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

I was wondering if you got my tweet about adding immerseus trinket to MW table loot?
It's not intended for them. A bug allows it to work for them, but we decided to leave it so we don't hurt existing owners. (Celestalon)speaking of trinkets, any reason behind no agi amp trink? using a str one as a BrM is a weird choice & its bis in normal w/o WF
I'd be suspicious of whatever theorycraft found it to be optimal to use that. (Celestalon)I guess that brings up the discussion. is the AMP effect worth ditching your proc.
Commonly forgotten: Amp increases crit damage, not crit chance. So won't increase Elusive Brew uptime. (Celestalon)

Warlords of Draenor StatsIs the item squish only to solve combat system problems with big numbers or are you using it to retune the ilvl power curve too?
Both. (Celestalon)

In 6.0, Will we do MoP raids as we can do now with lich raids?I said that because it is going to be 10 levels of difference.
In WoD, MoP raids will be similar in difficulty to how Cata raids are now in MoP. (Celestalon)I would think the squish would leave them a lil harder.
.The squish *will not* make old content harder. Really. (Celestalon)will old raids become easier? Ex: cata content will be as hard as wrath is today. Or will difficulty stay the same as today?
Leveling up and higher level gear will make old raids easier. (Celestalon)

Hit rating is gone. Hit mechanics are staying for >3 levels. Miss chance debuffs gone from encounters / mobs too?
Sorry, I don't understand the question... Do you mean the occasional hit chance debuff like Putricide's Choking Gas? Unchanged. (Celestalon)I meant 'will they ever be used in future encounters again'. I can't remember any since Wrath.
It's a tool in our toolbox that we use from time to time, but not often. Potentially in the future, yes. Not common though. (Celestalon)

With reforging gone, will stat weights be balanced a bit more, so some gear isn't so terrible for certain specs?
Yes. (Celestalon)

New secondary stats are meh, 1 guy who gets lucky will always have a raid spot even if the other guy is better cause more dps.
Misconception. There are no significant changes to how much luck impacts gear and then DPS in a raiding guild. (Celestalon)

PvEWill 6.0 boss mechanics regarding tanks be more dynamic and creative than current ones? Like changing how we play, tank, I dunno
We want to have significantly less time that you're taking turns tanking, and doing nothing in between. (Celestalon)But does that mean more "multi-bosses" like Fallen Protectors, add spawns like Blackfuse or something entirely new?
Not any one specific thing, just much less time doing nothing but DPSing. (Celestalon)if you keep using quick taunt swaps, should review immunity timer. seeing "immune" during garrosh sucks.
Agreed. (Celestalon)

PvPan we stop drinking in arena please, you can't drink half way though a raid boss so you shouldnt be able to drink in arena
Drinking in arena has been around a long time. Not sure what the reaction would be if removed (I'm guessing mixed) (holinka)not a big fan of precedence arguments in game design. Either it adds fun and depth or it doesn’t.
In a 9 year old game, precedence does matter. People have a lot of attachment to "how things are" and change can be quite jarring. (holinka)counter argument is lack of change creates boredom. Talents are a good ex of how systems need a fresh look regardless of history
Certainly. Don't disagree that change has to happen, but it doesn't mean we should ignore history. It's one more thing to balance. (holinka)

More details on CC revamps, talent revamps, honour changes, tertiary stats in PvP, and so on.
We are writing one about CC changes. Not sure when it will be released, but prefer it comes out before you see a list of changes. (holinka)

Do you think changing crits to 150% is good? I feel 200% makes them worth it, having big hits are what makes crit fun..
It means we have to tune damage and resilience around those numbers which makes sustained damage feel like nothing (holinka)

RBGs need to be removed, you can't split the PvP community anymore,Qs are longer than the time we spent inside a BG.
RBGs have little to no impact on random BG queue times. (holinka)

Do you think ret needs some passive defense, like 10-15% dmg reduction or cata sacred shield ? It feel very squishy for a melee atm
They have a major glyph that provides just that (holinka)

big fan of the original Alterac Valley, days long matches and all! Will Ashran have the same variety of objectives? 1/2
That's the plan. We want to pepper a lot of stuff throughout the zone. (holinka)

ProfessionsSorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but for WoD, can we Archaeologists expect new digsites on Draenor too?
Yes. (Celestalon)

The Elder Scrolls Online Beta Key Giveaway
Curse has 500,000 beta keys for TESO Beta! Curse Premium users had the first chance to grab one, from February 4th through 5th. The giveaway is now open to everyone else from February 6th to 10th.

You can grab your key here! Keep in mind that the beta is still under an NDA.

Curse is Hiring!
Due to continuing growth, Curse is looking to fill many positions in the near future! If you're looking for a chance to get into the industry, this may be the opportunity you've been seeking. Open positions are on site in Huntsville (AL), San Francisco (CA), and London (UK). Only a few positions are listed below, please see the full list on Curse.

ESO is real shit. Broken quest chains, over crowded server(which will be a problem at launch), boring progression, surprisingly boring art style that you really don't notice at the start. The whole game is base around a gimmick that it stolen from Rift.